Writing for Nation of Change, Rebecca Leber reports that, according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling, 29 percent of Louisiana Republicans place the primary blame for the government’s inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina on President Obama; 28 percent placed the primary blame on President Bush; and 44 percent have indicated that they are…
While New Faculty Majority appreciates the efforts of the Obama administration to address the critical problem of the skyrocketing cost of higher education and its effects, particularly on the students and faculty who are saddled with crippling student debt, we call on the administration to consider more carefully the full ramifications of the policies it…
An “On the Issues” post from the Campaign for the future of Higher Education [http://futureofhighered.org] _________________________ We like to think experts who weigh in on the direction of American higher education are steeped in researchabout what works and have real-world experience with actual students. We like to assume that elected officials, who are accountable to…
Cultural Representations of Higher Ed, No. 9 ____________________ Gillian Adams, a professor of history (created by Nora Kelly); Tom Allen, a professor of English (created by Marion Boyd); Jack Amirau, a professor of science (created by Bob Reiss); John Ashwin, a professor of Sanskrit (created by Anthony Boucher); Carl Atwater, a professor of history (created…
Miracles. That’s what the American public has been conditioned, this last decade, to ask from educators. No matter the level, not matter the economic background, no matter the differences in abilities, no matter the preparation of the students, teachers are expected to vastly improve them in a short period of time. In my last post,…
To start the fall semester on a light note . . . The first half of this post is a list of unusual book titles collected by Russell Ash and Brian Lake for Bizarre Books (1998). It is another item that I am re-posting from Futility Closet (www.futilitycloset.com). It is re-posted with the permission of Greg Ross,…
At the undergraduate level, colleges and universities have always relied upon first-time, first year students as the foundation of their freshman class. Historically, these students were drawn from four categories: legacies, student athletes, students seeking admission to a well-differentiated academic program, and qualified students who came in “over the transom” as part of a general…
A couple of days ago, The New York Times published a piece by Gina Bellafante entitled “A Chance at Learning.” It ends with a couple of paragraphs that seem emblematic of the state of education in America today, a state created by No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top and, now, the Common Core curriculum……
The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education [http://futureofhighered.org/ ] is a loose association of the major faculty unions and faculty associations in the United States. These groups have come together several times each year to share information on issues affecting high education and to shape responses to those issues that emphasize the paramount importance…